In early 2011, Mr Key announced plans for the partial sale of state-owned companies, and campaigned on that in the general election later that year. After his election win, the government raised $4.7 billion from the sales of stakes in Mighty River Power, Meridian Energy, Genesis Energy and Air New Zealand.

Mr Key's popularity soared after the 2010 and 2011 Christchurch earthquakes, where he visited earthquake-hit areas and promised people would be no worse off. The government red-zoned land in Christchurch and Kaiapoi.

In 2015 and 2016, Mr Key failed to change the New Zealand flag through a two-stage $26 million referendum. In what could have been his legacy, instead, to his disappointment, Kiwis voted in favour of the status quo.